Membership and Mentorship Programs
Member Login/Account
Current members please visit the Forums for instructions on how to upload your work.
Sadie Valeri Atelier offers the most affordable personal mentorship programs available online for classical art training, through written feedback in our private Forums.
All memberships include instant access to all of all our drawing and painting Courses.
Basic Access Without Feedback
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Instant access to our complete online classical atelier program, including all our drawing and painting courses.
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Monthly Plan
$39/month ($468/year)
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Yearly Plan
See more details below
Light
Feedback
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Get written instructor feedback on any coursework you upload to our private forums, up to twice a week.
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Access to all our courses included
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Monthly Plan
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Yearly Plan
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See more details below
Atelier
Feedback
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The full atelier experience: Work through all our courses in our recommended order with intensive twice-weekly written feedback.
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Access to all our courses included
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Monthly Plan
$209/month ($2,508/year)
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Yearly Plan
$2,299/year
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FULL
See more details below
Portfolio Development
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Work directly with Sadie to plan and create a series of artworks.
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Monthly Plan
$399/month ($4,788/year)
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Yearly Plan Discount
$365.75/month ($4,389/year)
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FULL
To apply to work with Sadie, please complete this form and include a brief summary of your art education experience and a few examples of your work.
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See more details below
Basic Access Without Feedback
Get instant access to every course and experience the power of historic training. Gain significant skill development within the first few weeks, and a depth of content that can fuel years of rigorous self-training, all presented in an orderly format anyone can follow. Choose to start at the beginning and work through all the courses in order, or jump ahead and take only the courses you need to fill in any gaps your art education. All our courses are pre-recorded so you can start any time and work through the lessons at your own pace. Basic members can upgrade to a Feedback plan at any time by logging in and selecting a new plan.
Light Feedback Program
Post your coursework in our private forums and get written feedback and answers to your questions from our instructors, up to twice a week. Our Light Feedback is one or two brief paragraphs for each submission, including encouragement, advice, and suggestions for how to improve. Unlike our more formal Atelier Feedback level, Light Feedback members can work through any of our drawing or painting courses, in any order.
"I often regretted not attending a fine arts program at university. This course fills in what I thought that I was missing. It is exactly what I have been looking for and I don't have to leave my home, and I can work at my own pace... My only regret is that I didn't come across this program sooner."
~ Feedback Member Brenda H.
Atelier Feedback Program
The full atelier experience: Work through our courses in our recommended order starting with graphite drawing for at least six months, and get intensive twice-weekly written feedback from Sadie and our instructors.
FULL
To apply for a spot, please join our Light Feedback Program and start uploading your artwork from the first course, Classical Sketchbook for Beginners. Light Feedback members are invited to upgrade to Atelier Feedback as spots become available.
Members of this program follow a traditional atelier plan of study, starting with Classical Sketchbook for Beginners and Intro to Classical Drawing, then advancing to Bargue Plate Drawing with Graphite. These courses take 4-6 months to complete. Once a student has completed at least one fully shaded Bargue plate with graphite (usually a hand, foot, arm or leg plate) they then have the option to do a more advanced Bargue plate, a cast drawing, a charcoal course, or a still life painting course. Figure and portrait studies then follow. Our instructors help students decide what courses to do in what order.
Atelier Feedback members post their coursework to our private forum. Atelier Feedback consists of several paragraphs of detailed critique, encouragement, and advice, often including overlays and diagrams. Every step of every lesson usually requires at least two or three rounds of feedback before the student is approved to advance to the next step. The student only advances to the next step when the instructor feels that step has been mastered. In this way this is a true foundation course, with a focus on rigorous skill-building.
All member posts are visible to instructors and members, and small thumbnails and preview snippets are also visible to the public in the activity feed on the Forums page. For those who feel more comfortable with private instruction, Atelier Feedback members have the option to make their posts visible only to our instructors.
"I have grown so much! Both as an artist and as a person. Yes, my skills have improved greatly and I still sit back in wonder when I have completed a project and say to myself “I did that”!... Unexpectedly, the greatest gift has been the stillness that has come into my life. With this I see the world differently. May I say more intensely. Life has become richer. I approach everything slower and with more awareness of all the beautiful nuances in each given moments. Life is more of a gift then it has ever been. ."
~ Feedback Member Marilyn A.
Portfolio Development Program
Work directly with Sadie for personal artistic support and art career advice.
FULL
To apply to work with Sadie, please complete this form and include a brief summary of your art education experience and a few examples of your work.
Artists who feel ready to create a series of personal paintings or drawings are invited to apply to work with Sadie directly via private written correspondence. Sadie mentors artists through encouragement, inspiration, and gentle accountability as they set a goal and create a series of artworks that hold together in subject, quality, and style, suitable for application to galleries, contests, art education programs, or simply for personal artistic development.
Sadie's mentorship is in the form of conceptual questions and writing prompts, with a focus on the emotional and philosophical aspects of artmaking: What are your goals for this series, what inspires you most, and what kind of support will help you advance?
With a focus on professional development, Sadie shares what she has learned about building an art career, from her own experience of being a blocked and frustrated art school graduate to becoming a full-time professional artist. Sadie's perspective and support helps her students identify their personal unique strengths and leverage them to achieve their greatest artistic goals.
"Through all our correspondence I have been amazed by your sensitivity and perception which had been quite remarkable considering it’s been online. I genuinely feel that it had been priceless to me."
--Portfolio Development Member Kate L.
~ How Our Mentorship Works ~
Members submit their work by posting to our private forums. Our instructors respond with detailed written feedback, including overlays as needed. Our teaching style is positive, precise, and encouraging. We are committed to helping our members reach their highest artistic goals through our personal mentoring. We believe in meeting each artist where they are at, and we always go above and beyond in offering detailed, specific, and constructive feedback at every stage of every project.
Instructors
All our instructors have been personally trained by Sadie. They were selected to teach based on their high level of personal artistic achievements, their ability to clearly verbalize technique, and for their ability to teach with emotional intelligence.
Sadie supervises all instruction closely and also adds her comments. Sadie is available by email if a member has a question or concern they would like to discuss in confidence.
Sadie personally gives all feedback in the Portfolio Development program, where she coaches and supports members in private correspondence.
Flexible Schedule
Feedback is posted on Thursdays and Sundays for work submitted by 11pm PT the night before. There is no weekly requirement to upload work. Members work at their own pace and on their own schedule.
Length of Study
The entire program can be completed in 2-4 years, depending on a students' pace, previous experience level, and how many hours a week they are able to devote to practice. Students and artists of all levels see dramatic improvement within the first two months of study due to the rigorous and precise nature of this classical program, but many students continue in our program for several years. For those who can devote 10-20 hours per week year-round, the drawing program alone can easily fuel two full years of weekly study, and the painting program is similar. Just like studying a musical instrument or a foreign language, attaining mastery is a life-long practice. Members who feel ready to create a more personal series of work expressing their own artistic vision can choose to work with Sadie personally in our Portfolio Development program.
Cancel Monthly Memberships Any Time
It's easy to self-administrate your membership from the Account page, and if you need help we are readily available. Please Note: Yearly memberships are a year-long, non-refundable commitment. Email notificationn of all recurring payments are sent seven days in advance. As artists ourselves we understand many artists are on a budget: We are a small artist-run business and our only agenda is to offer high quality historic-based art training as affordably as we possibly can. We do everything possible to be clear and fair about all our policies up front, and we are always responsive to communication.